No Highway In the Sky (1951)

Airplane!

After the war, James Stewart expanded his range taking on a number of tough guy roles, mainly in westerns but would still return to his gawky boy next door persona which he first became famous for. In No Highway In the Sky he not only returns to the gawky persona – Stewart plays the most nerdy, socially awkward, slouched over, clumsy character.

No Highway In the Sky puts forth an idea of scientists requiring social isolation in order to do their work. As Stewart’s daughter who is destined towards the same life says, “The scientists do the thinking while we do the living”. The Jack Hawkins character represents the layman viewer, exploring this man’s odd but fascinating lifestyle and being bemused by the technical jargon. I don’t know how many real-life scientists would appreciate this, but it makes for a fascinating character dynamic.

The section of the film on board the airplane is a predecessor to disaster movies to follow which would follow which would feature a diverse array of characters in danger. It is a cliché that the crazy or seemingly crazy one is the person who is right about an impending danger but it is cliché I admit to enjoying. I’m not an aviation expert so I can’t comment on the film’s scientific accuracy but as a lay viewer it did a good job at explaining the aeronautics involved and made it sound convincing; a real nail biter of a film.